Ubisoft - Trailer Announces Might and Magic X

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I am a bit stunned by the level of exitement caused by a mere 10 seconds of gameplay featured here. But maybe that's because I never played M&M.

Good point. Nostalgia about the games is definitely one aspect of it. But I do think most of us thought it would be some kind of modern mass-market take - and that trailer seems to be telling us quite the opposite.

That doesn't mean the execution will be worth a damn, though - so getting too excited is a bit premature.

I'm excited too, but the few screenshots and videos so far do not rule out a very casual-friendly (not necessarily a bad thing) and maybe even microtransaction-oriented M&M "light" for browsers, iOS and whatever else works for them kids these days. I'm not opposed to and/or extremely cynical about big publishers on principle, but Ubisoft's surprisingly aggressive use of the Might & Magic license (just look at this list) is a "long con" if there ever was one. They're in it to get people trapped in their supposedly crowd-pleasing ecosystem, and so far they have shown zero interest in attracting old school gamers to their Uplay-centered world of PC gaming.

Again, I'm probably the last person in this community to partake in the kind of "EA/Ubi/ActiBlizz/[insert profitable publisher here] is the worst company in the world" histrionics which I think make hardcore gamers look like clueless and cognitively challenged Luddites, but I just don't know how much room there could ever be in Ubi's Might & Magic-related business model for people like us…

I know I should probably just go and play some of the old ones, but my backlog is gigantic as it is already. So would someone humour me and summarize in a few words what sets the M&M series apart? What do you love / remember most about it?

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I know I should probably just go and play some of the old ones, but my backlog is gigantic as it is already. So would someone humour me and summarize in a few words what sets the M&M series apart? What do you love / remember most about it?

Originally Posted by Moorkh
Good list. Monster generators are a must - I never understood why other games didn't copy that.
I'd add:

* skill trainers to discover
* enemies visible from afar, moving turn-wise just as you do
* distinctive art style

M&M 3 was also the first game that spoke to me in my Soundblaster Pro. I can still remember that voice… "I am Sheltem, Guardian of Terra. Twice now you have defeated my tests, thinking yourself worthy of invading my world. Walk carefully, then, through this third challenge, and take heed your final decision is truly what you desire. For the course of destiny cannot be turned once set in motion. Until our next meeting, mortals…". I must have heard that like 2 thousand times, showing off my sound card to my friends.

Originally Posted by rune_74
Every might and magic has been pretty casual or light rpg, which was part of it's charm.

Yes, in the old times I remember there was a debate about if the might&magic series are light RPGs or not. Some part of the charm comes from the fact that M&M series (especially M&M 3 (1991) and later) games were easy to learn, hard to master. Even if you look at the interface of M&M 3 it was way ahead of its time with accessibility. Although there was a need to read manuals once (which was very fun) to learn skills, game world, etc, games' mechanisms were much easier to learn if you compare it to the other RPGs of their time.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I know I should probably just go and play some of the old ones, but my backlog is gigantic as it is already. So would someone humour me and summarize in a few words what sets the M&M series apart? What do you love / remember most about it?

Every M&M game was built on open world, free roaming structure. So biggest charm comes from that. In a time where other games (apart from few exceptions like Ultima) confined the player on a strict path, M&Ms allowed them to roam freely. Also in M&M 1 you didn't have a clue about the main story, you had to find that on your own.

Actually M&M series were light on dialogue, but heavy on combat, exploration. So we may think of them like Skyrim of old. But also apart from modern RPGs, M&M series relied heavy upon puzzle solving, which made every dungeon fun. In order to reach some areas you had to learn some skills like swimming or mountaning. This was part of the puzzle solving. Also there were no level scaling in any of them. You could go anywhere you want, but even near areas were insanely difficult for level 1 player. But, M&Ms were pretty generous when it comes to leveling. You could easily reach 100th levels at the end of the games.

In 1998 with M&M 6, series increased its fun base a lot. It was released approximately one year after Daggerfall and people who were bored with Daggerfall, rushed to M&M 6.

— "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

I'm curious as to whether we ever see our party members outside of the little window at the bottom. I can't think of a recent crpg where you couldn't see what you have equipped showing on your character. This was acceptable in the 90's, but is it today? I just can't imagine a true Might and Magic game being released the same year it's announced. The only way I can see that happening is if it is a simple iGame or equivalent.

First signs are not that good. It will take 25 hours to complete the game according to an interview with the developer. It will not give room to free roaming. It means it will be a linear game unlike the old games. Shame.

Also they will be in close touch with the fans. Estimated release date September 2013. If they are aiming a 25 hour game, they must be ready for pretty harsh negative feedback. According to me with this state it will be more like an experiment on Ubisoft's side than a real squel.

— "Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."
Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man